A Chibok schoolgirl who escaped from Boko
Haram militants in Nigeria has called on the
international community not to forget those
still in captivity.
Next month will mark the third anniversary
of the abduction of more than 270 girls.
The militants are still holding about 195 of
the young women.
The pupil, speaking under a pseudonym,
told an education conference in Dubai:
"These girls are human beings, not
something that we can forget about."
The abduction of the schoolgirls in north-
eastern Nigeria in April 2014 by the Islamist
militant group caused a global outcry - and
prompted campaigns about girls' right to
education.
But almost three years later most of the
abducted Chibok schoolgirls are still being
held by kidnappers.
One of the girls who had been seized, using
the pseudonym "Sa'a" to protect her
identity, said the "world has to do
something" to rescue her school friends.
"How would you feel if your daughter or
wife was missing? Not one day or two, but
three years. It's very painful," she told the
Global Education and Skills Forum.
Split-second decision
She said that some of the parents of the
abducted girls had died and the others were
traumatised by their long wait.
Last autumn, 21 of the young women were
returned. But Sa'a told the conference of her
disappointment that the majority still
remained in captivity.
"I remember those girls, but their dreams
are now no more," she said, recalling their
plans for their careers and future lives.
Sa'a described the night in April 2014 when
Boko Haram militants arrived at her school,
burned books and classrooms and forced
the pupils into trucks and cars at gunpoint.
Sa'a and a friend had jumped out the back
of the truck as it went into a forest.
The girls had hidden overnight and with the
help of a shepherd had made their way back
to safety.
"I thought I was going to die that night,"
said Sa'a.
But she said that if she hadn't taken that
split-second decision to jump, she would still
have been held in captivity and missing from
her family.
Sa'a spoke alongside another young
woman, using the name "Rachel", whose
father and brothers had been killed by Boko
Haram in north-east Nigeria.
Sa'a and Rachel called for greater efforts to
get the Chibok girls back and to make
schools safe from attack.
They said that their experiences had made
them more determined than ever to make
the most of an education that had been
denied to the abducted classmates.
http://www.bbc.com/news/education-39285042

wow... so fast

kk

tobtap:
wow... so fast

Yea. So fast so bad... One can only imagine what those girls have gone through, what they must have become, and the pains of their loved ones... We pray those still held are released soon.